


i'm feeling so brave when i'm in your arms

by falsealarm



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/F, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 03:28:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18842692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/falsealarm/pseuds/falsealarm
Summary: The cold static of fear tingling up Charlie’s spine reacts to the roiling anger in the room before the first cry is even released. She recognizes the shift, her flight response activating as soon as it’s labelled “angry mob”.[a little insert scene for 4.15]





	i'm feeling so brave when i'm in your arms

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for 4.15 obviously. Un-beta'd but I did take the time to edit this one a little bit. Title from "Never Gonna Leave You" by Adele.

The energy in the room rolls across the back of Charlie’s neck in waves. The crowd is mostly in disbelief at the start, Charlie feels doubt cold at the back of her ears and she’s hopeful for a moment that this press conference will be a bust—but then Mona appears. She’s pale, sweating, blinking scared under the bright fluorescents and Charlie feels a prickling of interest from the people around her.

When Mona shifts the interest turns quickly to fear and it races up Charlie’s spine alighting every nerve ending, each of them screaming in turn:  _ RUN _ . But they have plans, kind of, at least they do now that Mona’s here they can’t just leave her so when Mick stands Charlie follows. There’s safety at his side but his roar is cut short and he’s gone before Charlie can even register he’s leaving. A shimmer of blue disperses in his place and to her left she catches Zari reaching out for her own blue where Nate is supposed to be.

The cold static of fear tingling up Charlie’s spine reacts to the roiling anger in the room before the first cry is even released. She recognizes the shift, her flight response activating as soon as it is labelled “angry mob”.

The crowd takes no notice of her as she pushes through them, their attention focused on Zari as Neron’s voice echoes from above. Charlie hits a side door, slamming into it in a blind panic as the sound of her own heartbeat pulses in her ears. She doesn’t think she’s running but she’s down two hallways in seconds flat, dodging errant passersby and keeping her head low. There are windows to her right but no doors that will get her free. The hallway is empty but it feels like it’s closing around her and Charlie shifts unconsciously towards a wall, runs a hand along it to keep herself steady.

Still her heartbeat is all she can hear, the rhythm faster and faster with each step she takes until she feels like it might burst free from her chest. The hand against the wall finds a handle and clutches, turns it and pushes in. Charlie dives into the dark the open door provides, shuts the door behind her and leans against it, sinks to the floor with her hands covering her face. Her forehead and cheeks are both wet.

The darkness surrounds her and in that small peace she recognizes how ragged her breathing is, how dizzy she is because of it. She tries to slow down, inhales deeply and is met with the sharp tang of chemicals strong enough that her inhale burns a little. But the pain is welcoming, a distraction that clears Charlie’s head enough for Zari’s voice to become clear on comms.

“Charlie, where the fuck are you?”

Gideon’s audio is clear enough that Charlie can tell Zari’s breathing heavy, moving somewhere quickly and for a moment she thinks Zari’s left without her.

“Charlie, we have to go. Where are you?”

Charlie reaches up, presses at the device in her ear to answer, “in a closet.” She has no other answer for Zari, can’t remember how she got there but after a second she adds, “Don’t make a joke.”

“Well I guess that means you’re okay. Meet me at the door we came in, we need to go.”

The door they came in is at the back of the building, far enough away from the actual conference room to be a safe meeting spot should things go awry but Charlie doesn’t know how to get there from where she is. There’s thudding outside her door, not enough to indicate a mob but enough for Charlie to recognize a series of someones running so she pulls her knees up to her chest, presses her forehead to them. She’s safe where she is, it’s dark and quiet and there’s some bleach for her to huff if she gets bored. She could stay here for a couple hours until things die down then she could slip out the back door.

“Charlie?”

“You get out of here, I’ll meet you later.”

A beat. “Charlie I’m not leaving you, tell me where you are.”

“I’m safe.” Is all Charlie answers before switching her comm off and hugging her knees tighter.

This isn’t the first time she’s had to hide from an angry mob and she doesn’t suppose it’s her last but it never gets any easier. Once the panic gets her somewhere safe fear eats away at her insides. Sometimes it makes her shiver, most of the time it makes her nauseous. The latter finds her this time but she supposes the cleaning supplies her toes keep nudging aren’t helping her there. In a few hours the fear will subside enough for her to escape and she can call Zari again, see where they’re at.

After a few quiet minutes, the door handle rustles and then there’s pressure at Charlie’s back as the door starts to push in. Charlie’s feet shoot forward, trying to get some kind of leverage against the ground but they only kick at whatever’s in front of her. Something falls and a thwack sounds above Charlie as light peers in from the open door.

“Ow.”

“Z?”

“Did you just hit me with a broom?”

There’s a handle in Zari’s hand as she moves inside the small room, pressing the door and Charlie farther into the shelf next to her. Charlie follows the handle down to the ground, finds strings instead of bristles: “It’s a mop.” Charlie pushes herself up from the floor, kicking away toppled bottles so Zari has more room to stand. “And it hit you all by itself.”

Zari takes another step inside as she sets the mop back against the wall. “Come on, we’ve gotta go.”

Charlie’s stomach turns. “It’s not safe out there, you should’ve just left without me. I would’ve been fine in here.”

There’s noise in the hall, quiet voices getting louder and Zari scoots a little closer to Charlie so she can shut the door behind her. She leaves it cracked, listens as the voices get louder. Charlie tries to focus on how close she is. Wicksty’s pressed up against Charlie’s chest and even over the bleach Charlie can smell Zari’s shampoo but it isn’t enough to stifle the fear churning in Charlie’s gut again.

The voices pass and Zari shifts to the side, one hand on the door to push it open enough that she can poke her head out. “We’re clear, come on.”

“I’m gonna stay,” Charlie hears her voice waver, can feel half of it caught in her throat.

Zari stops, ducks her head back inside and looks down at Charlie. There’s a flicker of anger there before Zari’s eyes soften, realization maybe or at least that’s what Charlie hopes. At this point she’s scared enough not to care if Zari notices but it still feels a little harrowing being this vulnerable with Zari so close to her. “Hey.” Her voice is a whisper between them, soft enough that for a moment Charlie feels like she might cry. “I’ve got you, come on.”

Charlie feels Zari’s hand fumble at her thigh before it finds hers—she doesn’t lace their fingers, just holds tight and squeezes. It takes all Charlie can manage not to cry then. Instead, she squeezes Zari’s hand back and musters a smile then a small nod.

Zari shifts again, squeezing out the barely open door and Charlie lets herself be pulled out after her.


End file.
